


What if...?

by bratchet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: All years, Alternate Universe, But Harry is with Draco instead of Hermione/Ron, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hogsmeade, Insults, Jealousy, Love Triangles, M/M, Quidditch tryouts, Slow Romance, Slytherin Harry Potter, Teasing, Voldemort's still a thing, drarry endgame, still at Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24701950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bratchet/pseuds/bratchet
Summary: What if Harry didn't get into Gryffindor? What if Harry and Draco became friends in their 1st year?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Kudos: 27





	1. First Year

**Author's Note:**

> References to the movies as well as the books, but done differently with different people and outcomes.

Harry entered the massive school with, what he assumed is, his first year classmates. Everyone was wearing their robes, and everyone was extremely nervous for their introduction to the older students and teachers. McGonagall signals for the group to enter and wait by the front so that they could be sorted into their houses.

As they anticipatedly waited for the hat to finish its typical song, McGonagall named the students to sit on the stool and find out which house they belonged to. Ron Weasley - Gryffindor. Hermione Granger - Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy - Slytherin. Harry Potter - Slytherin.

When every student’s houses were called out, the prefects were ordered to lead them to their house common room, and reveal their house password. Harry anxiously followed Gemma Farley, Slytherin Prefect, all the way down to the dungeons. She voiced “Pureblood” and the door creaked open.

Harry’s eyes immediately caught the dark green tinge that permeated through the room. The green lamps added to the darkness of the room, and when he looked out the windows, it looked like they were underwater. Wait… A closer look proved that they  _ were _ underwater. Harry was slightly taken aback. What if the windows cracked and all the water came pouring in? 

Harry was slightly worried about the safety of the common room, and its belongings, but then again, this school has been open for several hundred years. 

“If you would all follow me. I will show you the separation between the girls and the boys dormitories,” Farley spoke out.

Harry only heard muffled sounds, and continued to stand still until he felt a little tap on his shoulder. The brunette turned and was met with a very pale boy. His eyes were a silvery white, and his hair was a platinum blonde.  _ How odd, _ Harry thought. 

“She told us to follow her,” the boy reminded, head nodding towards the stone stairs. 

Harry looked around the room, and noticed that it was now empty. He nodded, “Right. I must’ve zoned out or something.” He paused, reaching out his right hand, “Um, my name is Harry Potter.”

The blonde’s eyebrow raised, “No kidding,” his eyes glanced at the lightning bolt scar on the brunette’s forehead. “My name is Draco Malfoy,” and he returned the hand that was hovering in front of him.

Harry nodded, and withdrew his hand. “I guess we should head up then,” he pointed out, leading their way up the stairs. It felt like an endless twirl upwards, but eventually they made it to the top.

Both their heads twisted and turned, but there was no one around. Had they all already gone into their rooms? 

“Which way do you suppose our room is?” Draco asked, looking towards the left entrance, then the right. 

“We can just guess? I mean there’s no one around to ask.”

Draco nodded approvingly, “So, left or right?”

Harry walked confidently towards the right door, and his hand rested on the cold brass doorknob. As he turned the knob, his hand felt an immediate shock, and he jumped back. 

“I’m guessing it’s not this way,” Draco pointed out with a chuckle.

Harry rubbed his own stinging hand, and quickly glared at the blonde who was laughing at his pain. He turned towards the left door, and this time, it did not shock his hand. Harry let out a sigh of relief, and pushed open the door.

When the pair entered, they already saw a group of boys unpacking their belongings, and laying in their beds. Harry wasn’t surprised when he saw the velvety green canopies over the beds. The only two beds left were next to each other, only separated by a window. Harry obviously chose the bed further from the window, but what would a couple centimetres mean if the water did break through?

Harry found his luggage sitting in the centre of the room, and he lugged it all the way towards his bed. He began to take out his oversized clothing, and then set his owl on the side table. When he turned around, it seemed Draco had done the same. 

Harry yawned widely, and sat on the soft mattress. He laid down, not caring that it was only 8pm. His eyes lazily scanned the room - his home for the next ten months, his housemates for the next seven years. Harry never thought this would be the life he’d be living, and exhaled a breath of fear and anticipation. After laying in bed for ten more minutes, he finally closed his eyes and went to sleep.

-

The next day were Harry’s first classes. First class - Potions. At first glance, the professor was definitely terrifying to look at, but when he found out that he was the Head of Slytherin house, his shoulders relaxed. However, Severus Snape did not seem to care that Harry was a part of his house. He still picked on him in class, scolded him, and took points from him. 

When class finally ended, Harry couldn’t wait to bolt out the classroom. He, along with several other first years, had to somehow find their way to the Quidditch Pitch. Harry scrunched his eyebrows,  _ What on earth was Quidditch?  _ Harry spotted that familiar blonde hair. Draco seemed to know where he was going, and Harry immediately followed him.

Eventually, he found himself stepping on a grassy field. He saw about two dozen broomsticks laying on the ground, and a teacher whose eyes resembled some type of bird - maybe an owl or a hawk. Professor Hooch told everyone to stand beside one of the broomsticks. Harry silently stayed next to Draco. Then she told them to say “Up” with their hands hovering over so that the broomsticks could jump to their hands.

Harry slightly flinched when the broomstick flew to his hand, but it felt natural in his grip. When he looked over, he laughed when Draco’s only wriggled on the ground. Draco glared at him, and with his successful final attempt, he smugly looked back at Harry. 

After Hooch taught them how to slightly lift off the ground, and drop back down, flying lessons finally ended. It was finally lunch, and Harry happily walked into the Great Hall - a bit late considering he was still figuring his way around the school. Draco was already sitting at the tables, and Harry made his way over to him.

“Hello,” Harry greeted with a smile.

Draco looked up, “Hello, Potter.”

“Can I sit with you?” Harry asked, placing his bag on the seat.

“I suppose,” Draco answered, seeing the brunette already making himself comfortable.

Harry eyed the platters of food laid out in front of him, and some roast beef on Draco’s own plate. He watched Draco write something down in his notebook, and then raised the goblet of water to his lips, drinking away the silence of the atmosphere. Harry cleared his throat, “So how do you like classes so far?”

Draco met the green eyes, “I guess it’s alright. Potions seems fun at least. Flying, on the other hand, is a bit boring, but only because we’re at the basics still.”   
  


Harry nodded, “I agree.” He mentally shook his head, not knowing what else to say.

“Are you enjoying classes? I mean Snape seemed to be targeting you all class today. It was pretty amusing at first, but even I felt like it was a bit much towards the end.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t fun to sit through.” Harry’s chin dropped, “I lost our house fifty points, and the first day isn’t even over yet.”

“Yes, you did,” Draco remarked seriously, causing Harry’s eyes to shoot up. “But it’s only the first day, we can get those points back easily over the rest of the year,” the blonde added.

“I guess you’re right, Malfoy,” Harry said, appreciating the reassurance behind those words.

Draco shook his head, “Call me Draco.”

Harry let out a small laugh, “Alright, Draco.” 

“Alright, Harry,” Draco playfully added.

Harry took a bite out of the ham he cut from the platter, and Draco sipped some water from his cup. The pair stayed silent for the rest of their lunch.

-

The next few months went by with the same bland routine - breakfast, classes, lunch, more classes, dinner, sleep, repeat.

It was finally Christmas at Hogwarts, and Harry had the option of staying at the school or returning back to his Muggle aunt and uncle. Obviously he chose the former - there was no way in hell he would go back there voluntarily. 

The night before winter break, Harry caught Draco before he went to bed, “Hey, are you staying here for Christmas?”

Draco nodded, “Unfortunately, yes. My parents plan to go on vacation to Egypt.”

“Without you?” Harry asked, a bit shocked.

“Yeah, that’s what I asked, and I guess I wasn’t invited.”

“Bummer. Guess you’re forced to talk to me for the next couple weeks,” Harry joked.

Draco rolled his eyes playfully, “Can’t wait.”

-

The next morning, students were lining up to leave Hogwarts. When they all boarded the train, it slowly started up before taking off, and all who were left were Harry, Draco, and Ron.

Harry and Draco made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry’s eyes widened at how large the room looked when there were only a few kids in it. He saw Ron sitting alone at the Gryffindor table, and tugged Draco to follow him. 

“Hey Ron,” Harry said.

The redhead looked up, “Oh hiya, Harry.”

“It’s been a minute since we’ve talked, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, since the train, I believe,” Ron pointed out.

Harry motioned towards the blonde, “Yeah. Um, you know Draco, right?”

“How could I forget,” Ron answered with a snarky attitude. 

Draco rolled his eyes.

“Since it’s just us three, we should hang out during break,” Harry suggested as he began sitting down.

“If I knew this was the reason you wanted to walk over here, I wouldn’t have followed.”

“Oh come on, just sit down Draco.”

With a sigh, the boy sat down.

Harry put a crumpet into his mouth, and sat awkwardly with the two until Ron spoke up, “Want to play Wizard’s Chess, Harry?”

“I’ve never really played before. Is it the same as regular chess?” Harry asked with slanted lips.

“I’m not too sure what ‘regular chess’ is, but the pieces are enchanted to move to wherever I tell them to, and more often than not they smash each other whenever a piece gets taken.”

Harry tilted his head, “Maybe you should try playing with Draco so I can actually understand what you mean.”

Draco shook his head, “I will not play with Weasley. It’d be far too easy to win.”

“Oh yeah? Want to bet on that, Malfoy?” Ron challenged with narrowed eyes.

“Like I said, no.”

Harry elbowed the blonde, “Oh Merlin, just play once.”

Draco groaned, “Fine. It’s on, Weasley.”

Ron left the Great Hall and returned in less than ten minutes. He was holding a chess set, and placed it excitedly on the table. For the next hour, Ron and Draco played competitively, and Harry followed. It was pretty much exactly like Muggle chess, the only difference is they moved on their own and the pieces barbarically smashed each other. 

When the game finally ended with Draco winning, the trio sat around and chatted for hours. There was almost nothing to do during break except eat, sleep, and talk. They got bored after lunch, and decided to roam the school grounds - maybe they could find some secrets hidden away deep in the castle. Yet when night fell, they found nothing but empty hallways and quiet classrooms. They decided it’d be best to sleep for now and wake up tomorrow morning for some new adventures. 

For most of the break, exploring the castle was about the most fun they could ask for at the time. When Christmas finally came along, they brought their presents to the Quidditch field, and opened it along the snowy patches. Ron got his yearly holiday sweaters with the big R knitted to the front. Draco got tons of sweets sent all the way from Egypt. And even Harry received something - some sort of cloak - with no return address. 

They enjoyed the hot cocoa that was provided during breakfast and dinner. There was chocolate pudding for dessert, and all sorts of biscuits and cookies laid out in front of them. By the end of it, Ron’s mouth was stuffed with every type of sweet, and Harry occasionally grabbed a treacle tart. Draco didn’t really eat much, but sometimes picked at the confection - he mostly ate the treats his mother sent him.

When all the students were finally returning to Hogwarts, the quiet halls were no longer quiet, And despite being in different houses, the trio did not stray from their friendship. During class, Ron would ridicule Draco’s name, Draco would joke about Harry’s silly spectacles, and Harry would laugh at Ron’s messy red hair. It was a cycle of playful insults that lasted until the end of the school year.


	2. Second Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if they both wanted to be the seekers of their house's Quidditch team? What if Hermione and Draco have an awfully rough relationship? What if Draco was there when Harry found Tom Riddle's Diary?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being more of the pair working together during the conflicts, and friendships blooming.
> 
> -References to the movies as well as the books, but done differently with different people and outcomes.

Harry took a deep breath, hands gripping tight to his trolley, and ran right in between Platforms 9 and 10. When he emerged on the other side, he looked up at the sign: Platform 9 ¾. The clock read 10:50, and he casually strolled onto the train. 

As he walked down the awfully skinny aisle, he ran into a blonde boy trying to find an empty compartment.

“Hey Draco,” Harry greeted.

Draco faced the brunette, “Hello, Harry.”

“Looking for somewhere to sit?”

Draco scoffed, “Well I’m not walking around for the exercise.”

“I’m sure we’ll find one,” Harry reassured with a smile.

“I’m sorry, ‘we’?” Draco asked with a playful eyebrow.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yes, unless you’d rather sit alone the whole ride there.”

“Well…”

“Ah shut it, let’s go find a place to sit,” Harry said, leading the way down the aisle. Draco smirked, and quietly followed his friend.

About ten compartments later, Harry finally found Ron sitting alone. He was holding his wand, and pointing it towards his book. It looked like he was trying to levitate it, but it barely moved up a few centimetres before falling back pathetically on his lap.

“Oh, good morning guys. Or good afternoon,” Ron said looking up at the pair.

“Good morning Ron,” Harry happily returned.

Draco only nodded at the redhead.

Harry asked, “Is it alright if we sit here with you?” 

“Sure, there’s plenty of space. Also, Hermione hasn’t shown up yet - did you see her on the platform?” Ron asked with a worried expression.

Harry tilted his head, “No, I haven’t. She’s probably sitting somewhere else right now.”

Ron nodded in agreement, and continued to play with his wand.

As Harry and Draco sat opposite of Ron, Harry teased Draco, “See? Told you we’d find one.”

“Yeah yeah,” was all Draco said as he placed a small bag between him and Harry.

The train had begun to move, and the trio made themselves comfortable for the long train ride to Hogwarts. 

-

About an hour into the journey, Hermione finally appeared. She was already wearing her robes, and she halted in front of her friends’ and Draco’s compartment. She greeted them happily, and ignored the blonde as if he wasn’t there.

“Where have you been for the past hour?” Ron asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Hermione answered, “I was sitting with Neville. He was talking about his grandmother again, and I felt it best to just let him.” 

Harry looked up at his curly-haired friend, “Are you going to join us? We have space for one more.”

“Definitely. I don’t think I can handle another minute listening to how Neville’s grandmother knit him a sweater.” Hermione sat next to Ron, and looked diagonal from her - Draco was sitting there, not really looking at her but still paying attention to the conversation. When she met his eyes, he nastily looked away and towards the window.

Harry saw the tension between the pair, and cleared his throat. “So what’d you do this summer, ‘mione?”

Hermione’s eyes shifted to the brunette, “My family and I went to France for two weeks, and came back the second week of August.”

Draco scoffed.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, voice sounding agitated.

“I was just thinking how grand it would be if you stayed there.”

Hermione creased her eyes, “Excuse me?”

“I  _ said _ it would be better if you just stayed there,” Draco snarkily repeated.

“Wel-”

“Oh guys, please don’t fight,” Ron interrupted with hands in the air.

“Tell that to Draco,” Hermione responded, narrowing her eyes at the blonde.

Draco rolled his eyes.

Harry looked to Draco, “I mean, you did start it.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t ask for some Mudblood to start telling us her summer stories.”

“Draco,” Harry said firmly, “Don’t call her that.”

The blonde sunk in his seat, and looked out the window again.

Harry shook his head, and looked back to his friend, “I’m sorry, Hermione.”

She frowned, “It’s not  _ you _ who needs to apologize.”

Harry looked over to Draco, and slapped him in the arm. Draco’s eyes shot towards Harry in a provoked manner, but Harry didn’t flinch. He signaled the blonde to apologize to Hermione, causing the latter to stiffen his shoulders once again.

Draco managed to say, “I’m sorry, Granger.” Yet, it did sound like it was a battle within himself to do so.

Hermione still looked hurt, but she just nodded, and looked away.

The rest of the train ride was still extremely awkward. The air was tense, and Harry was suffocating from the silence. He criss-crossed his legs onto the seat, and glanced over to Draco - he was writing something in his notepad, probably some personal vendetta for having to apologize to Hermione. Ron was petting Scabbers with his thumb, and eating some sort of sandwich that his mother prepared for him. And, unsurprisingly, Hermione was reading a book - Harry thought he read “Standard Book of Spells”, but she’s already read all of those books last year.

-

When the train boarded at Hogsmeade, all four of them exited onto the platform, and walked over to the carriages. In a few minutes, they made it through the castle gates, and the familiar air brought a sense of homeyness. 

Harry and Draco separated from Ron and Hermione when they entered the Great Hall. They sat through the Sorting ceremony, and applauded any newcomers to their house. Then, dinner was served, and the first years were led to their dormitories. 

The Slytherin pair fell behind as they already knew where their living quarters were.

Harry asked, “What do you think’s going to happen this year?”

“What do you mean, Potter?” 

“I don’t know, like trips or holidays or classes,” Harry elaborated.

“I suppose it’ll be the same as last year,” Draco answered a bit too nonchalantly.

Harry crossed his arms, and walked in front of the blonde, “Sorry, am I boring you?”

“A bit,” Draco straightforwardly admitted, walking around the brunette.

Harry’s chin fell, “Fine, I’ll stay silent then.”

About a minute later, Harry spoke up again, “Then what do we talk about?” 

Draco sighed, “How about we chat tomorrow? I’m exhausted right now and everything you’re saying to me sounds like a jumble of words.”

Harry slanted his lips - Merlin his friend was such an arse sometimes, but oddly enough, he preferred Draco over everyone else in his house, and for some reason, he knew Draco felt the same with him. I mean why else would he allow the brunette to stick to him day after day?

-

The next morning, Draco was up before Harry, and was already straightening his tie to his throat. Harry was still on the bed when he eyed him from the corner of his eye, and then ruffled his curly hair.

“Are you going down for breakfast?” Harry asked with a yawn.

Draco faced the mess of a boy, “Yes, I am.”

Harry removed his covers, and began changing into his robes, “You should’ve woken me up, I want to go too.”

“I didn’t realize I was your alarm,” Draco said, turning his head away when the brunette took off his shirt.

After a long struggle to fix his tie, Harry was finally ready, and walked over to the boy who was still surprisingly waiting for him.

“Alright, let’s go,” Harry said as he passed Draco.

Draco twisted his face, “About time.”

As the pair was about to enter the Great Hall, they ran into Ron hurrying for food. After quick greets, they walked into the large room. Hermione was already there, and Harry wanted to sit with her and Ron, but he knew that Draco probably didn’t. Ultimately, he decided to walk over to the Gryffindor section.    
  


Draco grabbed his robe when he saw the direction he was walking, and asked, “Slytherin is over there, Harry.”

“Don’t you want to sit with Ron and Hermione?”

Draco winced at the second name, “Not really, no.”

"Why not?" Harry scrunched his eyebrows. 

"Well you told me not to be rude to Granger, and the only way to do that is by not seeing her at all.”

Harry looked back at his two friends, who noticed the trivial problem that Harry faced. With a sigh, he added, “Alright, fine, but during lunch, I’m sitting with them, with or without you.”

Draco deadpanned, “Alright, that’s fine.”

As they sat down at their table, they placed their bags on the seat. 

Harry put a biscuit and some eggs onto his plate, then finally spoke with seriousness, “Look, I’m friends with you, but I’m also friends with Hermione. Can’t you two learn to see eye-to-eye, at least when I’m around?”

Draco stabbed a sausage, "I really don't see why I have to do that."

Harry crossed his arms, "I hate having to choose between hanging out with you and hanging out with them." When Draco looked away, Harry added, "And they aren't the ones who have a problem."

Draco bit into the sausage, and Harry took his silence as a rejection to make amends. The brunette sighed in frustration, and shifted his body a bit further away from Draco.

The rest of breakfast was quiet, and then they walked to class - that was silent as well. Even if they were seat partners, Harry didn't really converse with Draco other than when the professor said so. He really just couldn't stand how immature it was to hate someone he's never even gotten to know.

-

When the bell finally rang, Harry left the classroom before Draco, and made his way down to the Great Hall. 

Draco slowly walked into the room, and sat alone at Slytherin. He couldn’t help but glance over at Gryffindor every other second, and see the trio laughing. It’s not like he wanted to sit there, but he couldn’t bear the silence of Harry not sitting with  _ him _ . It was so strangely uncomforting to not hear the perpetual chatter coming from the brunette.

He took a sip from his water goblet, and looked at the three again. His eyes fell down towards his plate, and like an automatic timer, his head tilted back up. _ Sod it _ , he thought. Draco stood up from his seat, and cautiously walked over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

Harry looked towards the blonde, and raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing here?”

“It was too quiet back there,” Draco answered, gesturing at the now empty seat.

“I see,” Harry nodded, “So you want to sit here, then?”

Draco blinked at the brunette, and then shifted to Ron and Hermione, “If you don’t mind.”

The pair shrugged, and motioned him to sit, though Hermione was more reluctant. 

Draco ignored all the stares and whispers as he sat down. He remembered the little talk he and Harry had about being eye-to-eye with Hermione, and greeted her. When she greeted back surprised, Draco nodded and forked some roast beef onto his plate.

Harry’s upper lip tugged a bit at the unexpectedly kind words that Draco managed to say, and then popped more corn into his mouth.

“Hermione, what’s Lockhart’s favourite colour?” Ron asked as he wrote his name on a piece of parchment.

Hermione shook her head, “Ron, you should learn to do your homework  _ before _ the day it’s due.”

“Well, excuse me if I’d rather rip my eyeballs out than read another bloody book about him,” Ron snarled.

Draco spoke up, “It’s true though. He  _ is _ a pompous arse.” 

Hermione twisted her face at the blonde.

“But, I have to agree with Granger on this one - you’ll get nowhere in life if you procrastinate even the simplest tasks,” Draco added when he saw her expression.

Hermione raised an approving eyebrow, and looked back to the redhead with a smile. After Ron sunk into his seat, and gave Harry a defeated look, she answered his question, “It’s lilac, by the way. He mentions it in almost all his books.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

There was a few minutes left before lunch ended, and the four began to pack up their belongings. They all shared their next class - Charms - together, and so walked there as a group. 

Harry had hoped Flitwick would be able to teach them more on the fire-making spell, and his professor reassured that it’d be a topic they’d address later in the term. But, he did not hold back on the three-foot-long essay that he assigned on the history of the revised levitation spell that they were learning about.

And of course, Ron and Harry were the least excited about having to do that. Nonetheless, they decided to meet with Hermione at the library on Saturday in order to finish it.

-

On Saturday afternoon, Harry asked Draco if he wanted to join them for their homework session, and, with much convincing, he accepted. The two Slytherins made their way to the library on the first floor; perhaps they were the first ones there as they didn’t see Ron or Hermione. 

They took the table that seated four, and dropped their bags on the floor. Draco had already taken out his parchment and Charms book, and was already writing something down. Harry glanced at the other's paper, causing the blonde to look up, "Can I help you, Harry?"

Harry puckered his lips, "How do you know what to write already?"

"Can you believe I actually pay attention in class?"

"I mean, I do too, but I guess I don't remember everything that well," Harry said.

Draco pointed at the green cover, "Just read Chapter Three in the textbook, and you should be alright."

As Harry was reading the chapter, Hermione and Ron ran into the library and to their table. 

"Hey guys, sorry we're late. Neville got stuck in a foot-binding curse again," Ron explained through an exhale.

Hermione sat across from Draco, and opened her notebook full of notes. She immediately started writing the introduction of her essay, slightly whispering the following word in each sentence as she wrote them down.

Ron, unsurprisingly, sat there, and did nothing but watch the other three gather information, and quill on.

“Ron, aren’t you going to start your Charms essay?” Harry asked, briefly pausing from his own.

“It’s due on Wednesday, I’ve got time,” the redhead said laxly.

Hermione interjected rather annoyed, “Actually, you’ll ‘do’ it Tuesday night, and then beg me for help.”

Ron’s jaw dropped offendedly, but not because it wasn’t the truth, but because she exposed his “A” methods to Harry and Draco.

“Just don’t help him then. How else will he learn?” Draco said, not even looking up from his assignment.

“Hey! Don’t tell her what to do,” Ron responded with a frown.

Draco looked up with an unamused expression, “Listen, if you just came here to do nothing, and complain when someone decides not to help you, then why bother coming at all?”

Hermione’s eyes shifted to Draco - could it be he was defending her?

Ron looked to Harry to jump into the conversation, but the brunette just shrugged agreeably and continued writing.

“There’s plenty of books in here to help you with your essay. And three feet isn’t even too bad - I heard seventh years have to write eight feet, so you should consider yourself lucky,” Draco added after a few seconds of silence.

Ron looked down, and then defeatedly stood up to walk to the Charms section of the library.

Hermione looked back at Draco, and then back to her book. She mumbled, “Thank you.”

Draco’s lips turned into a small grin, “Better for him to hear it now than later when it’s too late.”

She chuckled, “You’re not too bad, Malfoy.”

The silver eyes shot up, and he half-smiled, “I know.” He paused, and then continued, “I guess you aren’t either.”

Harry looked at his two friends reconciling, and inwardly grinned that it was possible for Malfoy not to be an absolute arse to her.

Ron returned with a book on the history of levitation spells, and took out his own quill to begin writing.

For the next hour or two, the four of them scribbled letters into words into sentences, and eventually paragraphs. Hermione finished first, and then Draco, to which she asked if she could read his essay - he reluctantly let her. Harry finished as well, but he knew it wasn’t really that great, and he barely made the three-foot mark. Ron struggled the most, but he eventually finished, surpassing Harry’s essay by barely an inch.

-

With Hermione and Draco being on better terms now, the four of them got closer, and interacted more within the next few weeks. The two Gryffindors sat in front of the two Slytherins in almost every class they shared, and both pairs - usually Ron and Harry - would send little moving doodles to each other throughout the lesson. 

During their free time, Ron would ask Draco to play chess, and Harry would enter every other game whenever somebody won. Hermione normally didn’t participate in Wizard’s Chess because she thought it was too barbaric, and instead just studied with the occasional glance at the three boys.

Whenever they had long assignments, they would do their homework together in the library or sometimes the courtyard if it was warm enough. Ron began to do his homework on his own, but barely; he still occasionally asked for help. Hermione usually helped him, but whenever Draco did, she began to realize how intelligent the blonde was - so much that she would even ask him to study at times despite the lack of exams. 

-

Quidditch tryouts were next week, and the boys were interested to check it out. Ron was most excited to try out because of the stories Fred and George glorified during dinner. Harry didn’t even know what the sport was before their lessons last year, and Draco had been flying since he could walk. It was obvious who was at a disadvantage here.

Ron wanted to be a keeper, but his slightly scrawny body would make it difficult. There was a bit of drama between Harry and Draco as both wanted to be a seeker. During tryouts, they were called out for a scrim, and the captain would judge their skills based on it. It lasted about fifteen minutes before Draco caught the snitch - he had beat Harry to it, and obviously the brunette was a bit upset by it but he just let it go as Draco had more experience anyway.

Hermione was waiting in the benches above, and when tryouts were over, she made her way down to the Quidditch Pitch to congratulate them. She saw Harry’s slightly bummed expression, and gave him a small pat on the back.

Curfew was approaching, and they walked back into the castle. Ron and Hermione walked up the stairs, while Draco and Harry walked down, and each pair made their way back to their dormitories. 

Draco noticed his friend was still down about the tryouts, and he didn’t really know what to say. He was happy that he caught the snitch, and he was happy that he most likely made the team this year, but he frowned knowing Harry wasn’t happy for him too.

When they walked up to their sleeping quarters, they passed the Second Year Slytherins that were hanging out in the common room.

“Hey, Harry,” Draco spoke up.

Harry turned his head, “Hi?”

“Are you… mad? About tryouts,” Draco drawled.

Harry shook his head, “No, of course not.” 

“It’s just you haven’t talked to me since then, and I don’t know, I guess I thought you were mad at me.”

Harry gave a small smile, “Honestly, I’m tired from tryouts. I’m just glad at least one of us got in, and not that bloody Theodore Nott.” He rolled his eyes, “He’s way too arrogant for my liking.”

Draco nodded, “That’s good to hear then.” He grabbed his towel, and some extra clothes, then prepared to leave the room for the showers. 

Harry did the same, and noticed the dirt residing on Draco’s cheek. He laughed at how ridiculously messy he looked.

“What?” the blonde questioned with a tilted head.

“You’ve got some dirt like -” Harry motioned his entire face with his hand, “- everywhere.”

Draco scoffed, “You don’t look too pleasant yourself, Potter.” 

“Better than you, at least,” Harry said with a chuckle.

The blonde rolled his eyes, and shoved Harry out of the way before walking out the room. The brunette stumbled a bit, but then quickly followed close behind.

-

For Harry, the next few months were somewhat of a blur. He knew that Draco had three Quidditch games, spread out within the upcoming months. He knew that he had to stay at Hogwarts for another Christmas, but this time without Ron or Draco. He knew that he had loads of essays to do, especially for that blasted Potions class. 

And when Winter break ended, a whole new issue arose for Harry. Someone or some _ thing _ was roaming the grounds of Hogwarts and petrifying students. First Colin Creevey, then Justin Finch-Fletchley. When he visited the hospital wing and saw Hermione laying in the bed, he didn’t know what to do. She was like a statue, and he felt guilty because she was only like that because she was helping Harry.

He and Ron visited her every day, and they sat by her bed. Draco would come every now and then, but he rarely stayed for more than a couple of minutes. Madame Pomfrey said that they should focus on their schoolwork while she and Professor Sprout made the antidote to reverse petrification. Obviously they didn’t listen, and still came whenever they could.

Harry would enter his dorm room, clueless, lost, guilty, unsure, and Draco could see it. He could see his friend slowly drift into unending concern for Hermione.

Draco tried to reassure the brunette, “Harry, if Madame Pomfrey says that they’ll fix Hermione right away, then you should try to sit down.”

“I can’t. Not when Hermione’s like this. Not when there’s someone out there hurting these Muggle-borns,” Harry refuted with his fingers running through his curls.

Draco scanned the room full of his housemates, “You constantly walking around is making others anxious, so just relax and wait until the Draught is complete.”

Harry sighed loudly, and raised his voice a bit, “You don’t understand. You’re not as close to Hermione as I am. You’ve always hated her because of her ‘blood status’. I know you couldn’t care less if she was petrified.”

“Well, that’s an obvious lie. Yes, Hermione and I still sometimes butt heads because of it, but it’s not like we aren’t friends. Hell, we’ve been hanging out almost every day for the last several months.”

  
  


Harry looked at the blonde, and sat down on the window sill.

Draco continued, “Look, if your beloved Dumbledore says the antidote will work, then it will. I can’t see why he’d lie in a situation like this.”

Harry’s head laid back on the green-tinged window, and he looked at the little fish that swam past his eyes. His eyes shot back towards the blonde, “You’re right. I just have to wait.”

Draco nodded, “Then go to bed - you look like you haven’t slept in over a week.”

Sleep did sound good to Harry right now. He laid in bed, and pulled the blanket over his body. His eyes closed and his mind drifted off into a deep sleep.

-

Within the next couple of days, Harry found a diary that was thrown into the girls’ second floor lavatory. He brought it back to his common room, and showed Draco.

“Where’d you find it?” the blonde asked.

Harry pressed his lips together, “The girls’ bathroom…”

Draco creased his eyes curiously, “And why were you in a  _ girls’ _ bathroom?”

“I was asking Myrtle about what could possibly be doing all these things to Muggle-borns.”

“Myrtle?”

“She’s a ghost in that bathroom,” the brunette explained.

“Okay,” Draco drawled, “And what did she tell you?”

“And - well she just handed me this book, saying someone threw it down her toilet.”

“You’re touching toilet water?” Draco disgustedly said, eyes flitting from the book to the green eyes.

Harry looked unamused, “That’s not the point, Draco. I looked at the pages after she gave it to me, and the paper was dry.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “It could’ve just dried on its own?”

Harry shook his head, “She said it happened yesterday, and I really doubt all hundred or so pages dried by today.”

“Alright, then what do you suppose you’re going to do with it?”

“I don’t - I don’t know…” 

“Is there anything written in it?” Draco asked.

“Nothing at all,” Harry said dejectedly.

Draco held out his hand, “Here, let me see it.” He placed the book on the dark wood table, and pulled an ink set closer to it. He dipped his quill in the black ink, and wrote the date in the upper-right corner of the first page. When he went to write below it, the ink began to disappear until nothing was there at all.

“What the?” Harry said in confusion.

Draco looked at the brunette, “Alright, you saw that too.” His head turned back to the pages, “I’m not going mad.” He dipped his quill in ink again, and wrote “Hello?” into the parchment.

The words disappeared like it did before, but this time something appeared in its place - a response:  _ Hello. _

“Ask it who it is,” Harry said.

Draco dipped his quill again, and then wrote “Who are you?”

_ My name is Tom Riddle. _

Draco closed the book, and looked at the back cover. “Tom Marvolo Riddle,” he said in a whisper.

“Are you telling me the owner of this book is speaking to us right now?” Harry asked.

Draco shrugged a bit, “Perhaps?”

“Can I?” Harry reached for the quill to which Draco gave it to him. He wrote: “Do you know what’s petrifying all of these students?”

_ Yes. A beast hidden within the castle. _

Harry didn’t bother dipping the ink, and wrote with barely visible words, “What is it?”

_ That is something I cannot disclose. _

Harry scrunched his eyebrows, and wrote “Why not?”

_ It’s safer when fewer know. _

“You can trust me.”

_ I don’t even know you. _

Draco saw his friend slowly grow more irritated and frustrated. As Harry went to dip his quill in the ink again, Draco stopped him from writing more.

“Harry, you’re really going to take the word of a book?”

Harry’s chin fell, “It’s all we’ve got right now.”

“We don’t even know if the thing responding to us is a reliable source,” Draco reasoned, taking and closing the book.

The brunette ignored his words, “Whatever this ‘beast’ is, I think it’s hidden in the Chamber of Secrets.”

Draco sighed, “And what makes you think that?”

“McGonagall - she said that there was a monster hidden within the chambers, and I think that it could be what Riddle was talking about,” Harry said, a bit troubled.

“Harry, that’s all hearsay -”

Harry’s voice raised in the quiet common room, “I don’t care, Draco. I believe them.” And with that, he stormed up the stairs back to their sleeping quarters.

Draco clenched the book, tight in hand, and loosened his shoulders. He was worried for Harry - bloody kid didn’t even know where the chamber was and now he’s going to search for it  _ and _ slay the ‘beast’? He rubbed his forehead, and walked up the stairs.

-

Harry would obsessively search for any reference towards the chamber, and Draco would slowly watch his friend descend into madness. One day, on their way to the Great Hall for dinner, Harry ran towards the girls’ lavatory again. Draco looked around, making sure no one was around, and then followed Harry. 

“Harry, why are you going to the girls’ bathroom again?”

Harry didn’t even look at the blonde, and answered, “I need to talk to Myrtle.”

Draco rubbed his temples, “What is she going to tell you now that she hasn’t told you before?”

“I don’t know,” Harry answered.

“Then maybe we should leave before someone catches us here.”

Harry glared at the blonde, and called out for Myrtle. When she appeared, she did her usual flirts with the brunette, and only briefly glanced at the other. Draco rolled his eyes at how uncomfortable the situation was.

“Myrtle, can I ask you something?” Harry asked, avoiding her awfully close body.

She smiled suggestively, “Depends on what it is.”

“How’d you die?”

Her smile fell, and she hesitated, "I was crying in this stall,” she said pointing downwards, “And I remember hearing a boy speaking in some sort of made up language, and so I told him to go away." She paused and came closer to Harry, "Then I died.”

Harry’s eyebrows raised, “Just like that?”

“Mhm.”

“But how?”

“I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes over there by that sink,” her eyes trailed towards the large marble structure encircled with faucets.

Draco followed Harry as he approached the sink and ran his fingers over the engraving of a snake. He heard him say something, a whisper of a word, and that’s when the rumbling began. The circle of sinks separated from its center, and a large hole emerged where they used to lay. 

Harry immediately went to jump in, and Draco pulled him back, “Are you mental?”

“Well how else are we going to get down there?”

“Harry, I can’t believe  _ I’m _ saying this, but maybe we should tell Dumbledore, and  _ not _ go down by ourselves?”

Harry ripped himself from Draco's grip, "Fine,  _ you _ can tell him, I'm going down." And then he slid down the hole like it was a slide.

Draco mouthed some cuss under his breath, and walked out of the bathroom. He found Ron before he made it back to the Great Hall, and told him about finding the Chamber and Harry’s insane plan to jump in. He told Ron to just tell whichever teacher he could find, and went back towards the girls’ lavatory.

He jumped in to follow his friend. When he made it to the bottom, he landed on a ground of what seemed like bones.

"Great, this looks promising," Draco said sarcastically. 

Harry ran through the only hole, and Draco cautiously followed behind.

"Harry, what do you suppose we can do when we run into the beast?"

"I don't know."

"You seem to be saying that a lot in very dangerous situations."

Harry stopped walking and turned, "Look, if you're going to keep worrying, why'd you come down with me?"

"Two is better than one against most, and plus I can't really let you take it on on your own; I'd feel guilty if you died down here."

Harry raised his eyebrows, "We'll be fine then." Although he wasn't really sure of his own words. 

As they walked down the endless tunnel, they finally emerged towards a large area. There were water puddles everywhere and a large engraving of a man’s head towards the back. 

Harry and Draco slowly walked towards it, but from the side, a boy revealed himself, causing them to stop in their path. He looked older than the pair, and he was also wearing school robes.

"Who are you?" Draco asked, hand hovering over his sheathed wand.

"Tom Riddle," the boy answered. 

While Draco did not let his guard down, Harry approached the black-haired boy, "You're the one in the diary."

"That is correct. And you are?"

"I'm Harry Potter."

The older one grinned slightly, and seemed fascinated, "I see. I've heard a great deal of you." His voice spat out 'great'.

"What are you doing down here?" Harry asked with a tilted head.

“You can say I watch over things down here,” Riddle answered, eyes not leaving Harry’s.

Draco creased his eyes, “What things?”

Tom’s eyes shifted towards the blonde - he didn’t appreciate his cynicism, “This and that.”

Draco leaned towards the brunette, and whispered, “I don’t trust him.”

“He hasn’t done anything, Draco.”

“There’s something… off about him,” he added.

Now that Harry thought about it, it was strange that he was down here. There seemed to be nothing but stone and water, so what  _ things _ could he take care of? It couldn’t be… the beast?

Harry backed away, “It seems we must be going now.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Harry,” Tom deadpanned.

“And why’s that?” Draco asked rather annoyedly.

Riddle chuckled to himself, and simply turned around towards the giant structure. He whispered something, to which Harry understood, but Draco didn’t. There was a brief moment of silence before the mouth of the sculptured man began to lower, and something hissed deep within.

The beast slithered out, and chased the pair down the long slippery aisle. They turned towards the side, and made it down another tunnel. They kept running, splashing through all the water, but the large basilisk continued to chase them. They didn’t know what to do. They had no weapon. And they barely had enough knowledge on spells as they were only second years.

Harry looked down at the rocks that scattered around them. “Draco, if looking into its eyes kills us, then maybe we can blind it?”   
  


“And how on earth are we going to manage that?” 

Harry bent down, and picked up a rock, “Look around us, there are rocks everywhere.”

“And what, you want us to aim it perfectly at its eye and toss it?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Not exactly. My idea is a bit more up-close than that,” Harry nervously remarked. 

“Well, what is it?”

Harry knew his idea was ridiculously dangerous, but it was the only plan he could think of at the moment. “One of us can lure it down this tunnel, while the other hides, ready with a rock. And when it slithers past, the one with the rock can crush it in its face.”

Draco leaned back on the wet walls, “Merlin, Harry. Do you know how stupid that sounds? What if we miss and it bites off our bloody arms?”

“Then we can’t miss,” was all Harry could mutter.

Draco sighed, and reluctantly agreed, “Alright, who will be running from the damned thing?”

“I can run from it, but we only have one shot at blinding it. Do you think you can manage that?”

“How hard can it be?” Draco answered in sarcasm. Deep down, he was extremely nervous and scared, but Harry was right. If they managed to blind it, they could escape from it, climb out the bloody hole, tell Dumbledore or the professors, and then they could be the ones to deal with it.

Draco found the sharpest rock he could find, and Harry took a deep breath. Could he outrun it?

“Are you ready?” Harry asked.

Draco nodded, “Good luck.”

Harry half-smiled like it was the last time he would, “You too.”

Harry exited the little hideout, and immediately encountered the large serpent. It did not hesitate to bolt towards Harry, to which the brunette ran faster than he ever did, down the aisle, through the tunnel, towards where Draco was. 

When Harry was almost where the blonde was, Draco could hear the hasty footsteps, and feel the shaking of the tunnel the immense serpent managed to slide through. Close. Closer. Harry passed him, and his right arm went swinging right into the basilisk’s right eye. It roared loudly in pain, and Draco backed further into the small alcove until he saw it merge with another tunnel. 

Harry heard the booming cry, and turned to the right of the tunnel, where they planned to meet.

“Did you get it?” Harry asked out of breath.

Draco stuttered in shock, “I think? I’m bloody well not staying to find out.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Harry answered, and the pair walked down the large tunnel that they entered from. They heard the clumsy rumbling of the serpent bumping into the walls.

“Now how do you suppose we can get out?” Harry asked, anxiously looking at the enclosed walls.

“Ron.”

“What?”

“I told him to tell the teachers, or Dumbledore, or anyone. Hopefully he could manage to do that. But it’s been awhile, and I don’t even know if they’ve found the entrance yet.

Harry looked up, “So we just sit here until they come? That’s bloody insane. That thing can come back any second.”   
  


“Well, Harry, that’s what I was trying to warn you about earlier - you know, before you jumped down here without any sort of plan or escape.”

Harry dropped his eyes, and anxiously blinked the rubble off his lashes.

A few minutes later, they heard a familiar voice from above, calling their names.

The pair’s eyes shot towards the sound, and they called out that they were down there.

Harry gave Draco a relieved smile, to which Draco nodded.

Another few minutes of silence ensued, and then they saw a small animal flapping down towards them. 

Draco scrunched his eyebrows, “Is this a joke?”

“No, it’s Fawkes, and I think he’s supposed to carry us up,” Harry said.

“How can  _ that _ carry the two of us?”

Harry did a quick chuckle, “Haven’t you read that phoenixes can carry a great weight?” He paused, “Just hold onto me, yeah?”

Draco inhaled sharply, and held onto the brunette’s robes, while the latter held onto the phoenix’s tail. It flapped its wings a few times before it suddenly took flight. Harry felt weightless, and took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t fall. He didn’t even look down to see if Draco was still holding onto him.

When they finally made it out of the hole, they were greeted by McGonagall and Dumbledore, and were told to wash up and go to their dormitories. The pair nodded, and obediently walked towards their living quarters to get extra clothes to shower.

-

For the rest of the month, Harry and Draco went through the same routine - Harry would consistently visit Hermione and Draco would tell him to be patient. By the end of May, the Mandrakes had matured and were brewed into the restorative potion. During dinner at the Great Hall, Harry sat with Draco at the Slytherin table, and looked over to Ron who was being comforted by Neville. 

In the middle of dinner, the massive door swung open, and a little girl appeared at the entryway. Ron stood up, and so did Harry. They immediately ran towards her, and gave her a giant hug. Draco followed calmly. 

“Welcome back, Hermione,” Harry said with a smile.

“It’s good to be back. I didn’t miss much, did I?”

Harry widened his eyes, “Actually you missed quite a bit, but I’ll tell you all about it another time.”

Ron spoke up, “Yeah I barely know what bloody happened, so you have to tell me too.”

“Of course, of course,” Harry said with a motioned hand, “Or maybe Draco can just tell you.”

Draco grinned, “Definitely not.”

The four of them sat at Gryffindor to eat with their recovered friend, and Harry would mention something about the chamber every other sentence. Draco was mostly just there to nod and reassure them that what had happened was true. Ron’s mouth dropped, and little peas would roll out of it. Hermione was merely impressed that they even made it out. 

For the rest of the year, they tried their best to keep out of trouble. Both Harry and Draco really needed a break, and didn’t bother asking Dumbledore what they had done to the basilisk that lived within. Honestly, Harry thought they were just surprised that two second years managed to find the Chamber of Secrets at all. Never the matter, they heard rumors that they had successfully ‘terminated’ it, and the school was finally free of the beast. 


	3. Third Year

Summer was a bit less enjoyable for Harry this year, especially since Marjorie Dursley decided to visit for a week. Yet, Harry couldn’t express any type of hate towards the woman as there was a compromise made between him and his uncle: Be on your best behaviour or he won’t sign that form of yours.

Harry was so close. He only needed to survive one more day, and then he could attend these special trips to Hogsmeade. But, on that final day, Marjorie insulted him and his parents to the point where his anger blew her up like a balloon. She flew out the window, and through his rage, Harry packed his belongings and walked out into the streets of Little Whinging.

While walking down with his luggage and Hedwig, he slowly began to realize how bad his situation was. Where would he go? Where would he sleep? He sat on the cold cement, and hopelessly looked into the dark neighborhood until he heard a small growl behind him. He turned his head towards the bushes, and swore he saw some sort of dog. It was black, and it looked rabid.

He drew his wand, and attempted to approach it, but soon something drove behind him. Some sort of bus -  _ Knight Bus _ . The conductor came out and briefly welcomed Harry before pulling the brunette’s luggage onto the bus. After stating his destination, the doors closed and the bus speedily took off. It turned, shrunk, and grew. Couldn’t Muggles see that?

Eventually he made it to the Leaky Cauldron, and his belongings were sent upstairs to his room. He had a quick chat with Cornelius Fudge about blowing about his aunt and how dangerous it was to be outside alone at this time. After, he was brought to his room and saw that all of his school books as well as Hedwig were already there. 

He would stay here until September 1st, which would mark his third year of Hogwarts.

-

When Harry made it through the castle gates, he inhaled deeply.  _ Another year at Hogwarts _ , he thought to himself while walking to his table with Draco. Ron and Hermione had already separated from the Slytherin pair, and walked towards their respective table. 

When dinner was over, they walked back to their sleeping quarters, and Draco said, “I still can’t believe the  _ Great Harry Potter _ fainted.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Malfoy.”

Draco grinned slightly - he found it amusing to tease the brunette, “Oh come on, it’s obvious laughing matter.”

Harry sighed, “You don’t understand, you didn’t hear the woman screaming.”

“Oh, a woman? It couldn’t have been  _ that _ bad,” Draco answered insensitively.

When Harry refused to talk back, Draco’s smile fell, “Alright alright, I’ll stop.”

“Thanks,” Harry deadpanned as he opened the door to their room.

Draco slanted his lips, and walked over to his bed. Maybe he felt a bit bad for annoying Harry, but he definitely had slight trouble sleeping when all he could picture was Harry’s bitter expression.

-

Draco used his wand to lift the blanket off of Harry, “Wake up, we’re getting breakfast.”   
  
Harry groaned into the sheets, and clumsily searched around for the blanket. When he failed to find it, he sat up, “What time is it?”

“Far too late,” Draco pointed out. "Don’t you want breakfast?”

Harry sleepily blinked, and then looked at the blonde, "I guess some food wouldn't hurt."

"Then get dressed," Draco said seriously, then grabbed his bag, and walked down to their common room.

When Harry made his way down the stairs, he saw Draco speaking to another one of their housemates, Blaise. It was probably some scholarly talk about potions and what not, but Harry interrupted their conversation and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Harry."

Blaise nodded, "We've had classes for three years now, I know who you are." He paused with a grin, and then stuck out his hand, "I'm Blaise."

Harry shook the hand in front of him, and then asked, “Are you joining us for breakfast?”

Blaise shook his head, “I’m sitting with Pansy. Maybe next time when you guys aren’t sitting at Gryffindor.”

“Oh, right, got it,” Harry said with a nod, and signaled Draco to follow him out the dungeons.

The pair walked their usual route to the Great Hall, and Harry instinctively looked for Ron or Hermione. He barely spoke to them yesterday after the whole incident, and was too light-headed to even hold a small conversation with them. 

They saw Hermione sitting alone, and approached her.

Harry tapped her shoulder, “Hey, Hermione.”

“Hello, Granger,” Draco added after.

“Oh, hello guys,” she said looking up. Her eyes shifted to Draco, and immediately back to her book causing Harry to briefly scrunch his eyebrows.

As they sat opposite Hermione, Harry spoke up, “Where’s Ron?”

“According to Seamus, he’s apparently  _ too _ exhausted for breakfast,” she answered.

Draco raised his eyes in surprise, “That’s a first.”

Hermione grinned slightly, and then faced back to the brunette, “So how are you feeling from yesterday?”

“I’m alright, it honestly passed when I laid in bed last night.”

Hermione smiled, “That’s good then.” She looked back at the blonde, “And you?”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked.

“Well you weren’t exactly smiling after the Dementors came,” Hermione said, causing Harry to turn his head towards Draco as well.

Harry spoke up, “Wait, you also -”

Draco quickly interrupted, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He narrowed his eyes at the girl, to which she was unfazed.

“You were making fun yesterday, but  _ you _ also fainted,” Harry said with an irritated tone.

Draco faced Harry, “I did not _ faint _ , Potter. I merely had a brief moment of,” he hesitated for a second, “shock.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yeah, ‘shock’.” He reached for the platter of biscuits, and bit into the warm and delicate bread.

“It was,” Draco said, a bit annoyed. He grabbed some white bread, spread some strawberry jam over it, then bit down. Some of the jam dripped onto his chin, but it seemed he didn’t notice.

Hermione chuckled under her breath, causing Draco to look at her in a droll way, “What’s so funny?”

“You eat so messily, do you know that?” she said with an amused grin.

Draco straightened his back, “Impossible.”

She pointed at her own chin, and gestured that there was something on his.

Draco reached for his chin, and was shocked to feel something sticky there. He quickly wiped it away, and cleared his throat, “Just an unlucky moment.”

“Mhm,” Hermione drawled in a high-pitched tone.

Harry just watched the little interaction while eating his own breakfast. When he finished his food, he looked up at the clock, casually grabbed his bag, and stood up from the table. He looked back at Draco and Hermione, and indicated that class was starting soon.

They also stood up with their bags, and followed Harry out for their first class of the day - Care of Magical Creatures. They made their way down the cobblestone path, and towards the little hut. Hagrid was their new teacher because Professor Silvanus retired after a lengthy recovery from an Engorged Ashwinder fire. 

-

Hagrid led the class of third years into the Forbidden Forest, which was surprisingly beautiful considering its name. When everyone was halted in front of a large open area, Hagrid told them to open their books to page 49. Everyone was holding their books - cleverly named  _ The Monster Book of Monsters _ \- and were wondering how on earth they were supposed to open it without it snapping its teeth at them.

Draco spoke up towards the enormous man, “Exactly how do we do that?”

“Yeh jus’ stroke the spine, o’ course,” Hagrid answered back. How no one knew such an  _ obvious _ thing was clearly shocking to the man.

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the blonde, “You, uh, stroke it first.” 

Draco’s eyebrows jumped in receipt, and ran two slender fingers down the spine of the book. It immediately purred under his touch, and Draco made a sound of approval before signaling Harry that it worked.

Harry did the same, and continued walking down the mulchy path until he finally saw Ron sitting on the massive stone.

“Ron, your sleep went well, I assume?” Harry teased.

The redhead rolled his shoulders in the air, “Yeah, it was bloody amazing those extra thirty minutes.”

“You missed out on breakfast, Weasley. I can only imagine how loud your stomach will grumble by the end of this period,” Draco said with a half smile.

“I’ll survive, Draco. I snuck something from the kitchens,” Ron admitted, and pulled out some sweet bread along with an apple.

Draco snatched the green apple from Ron’s hand, causing the latter to immediately shout in disapproval, “Hey!”

“Oh come on Ron, it’s not like you actually eat fruit,” Draco remarked with a smirk.

Ron pressed his lips together, “Well, it  _ was _ the only other thing out when I looked for food.” Then he motioned for the blonde to take his apple, and took a bite out of his bread.

“Thanks,” Draco added, and took a sizeable bite from the juicy fruit. 

Harry looked at the blonde munching on the apple. Biting straight from an apple could only look so many ways, but the brunette couldn’t help notice how elegant Draco looked chewing it. His normally thin cheeks filled with a sweet substance - truly showing how much the blonde was enjoying it. And the tiny bit of juice residing on the corner of Draco’s lips.  _ Hm _ , was all Harry could think.

Draco looked down at Harry, and saw him staring. He swallowed what was in his mouth, and then asked, “What? You want some?”

“Oh no no,” Harry answered with a chuckle.   
  


“Then why’re you looking at me like that?” Draco raised an eyebrow.

Harry looked at the apple between the pale fingers, “I liked the way you were eating the apple.”

“You’re odd, Potter,” Draco said with a bewildered expression.

Harry nodded with an amused smile, “Thanks.”

A few minutes later, Hagrid finally revealed himself from behind the tree, but he was not alone. There was a large animal - half-Griffin, half-mare - and it had the most beautiful grayish-blue feathers. Almost every student backed away in fear of the being, but Hagrid was smiling like it was the cutest little thing. He tossed a nice dead ferret into the air, and it extended his head to catch it.

Ron spoke up in a cracked voice, “Hagrid, exactly what is that?”

Hagrid approached the large group of students, and explained, “That, Ron, is a Hippogriff. Firs’ thing yeh wan’ know abou’ Hippogriffs is that they’re very proud creatures - very easily offended.” He clapped his hands together, and asked the class who’d like to go first.

No one stepped forward, but rather retreated back to the point where only Harry was in the front.

Hagrid turned his head to see the brunette “volunteer,” and spoke up, “Well done, Harry, well done.”

Harry’s head spun to the back to see that everyone was at least two metres behind him. When Hagrid encouraged him to walk forward, Ron nudged him a bit to go.

Harry was definitely terrified, especially since Hagrid had just said any disrespect would mean hell for the offender. He followed Hagrid’s instructions to bow first and wait for the Hippogriff, named Buckbeak, to bow back. Once Buckbeak did bow back, Harry was told to slowly touch its head.

When the round of applause came for Harry, Hagrid approached the boy, and said, “He may let yeh ride ‘im now.”

Harry faced the half-giant with a shocked expression, “What?” And without any warning, he was lifted, and placed onto the back of Buckbeak. 

Draco looked at the nervous brunette, and worried for his well-being. He instinctively walked a little closer, but stopped when he heard Ron whisper to Hermione, “He’s going to be alright, isn’t he?”

She looked back at the redhead, “Probably. I mean Hagrid wouldn’t do anything that could hurt one of us.” But she was still scared for her friend.

With a slap on its rear end, Buckbeak began speeding past the students, and then took flight. Harry held on for dear life, but after a couple of minutes, he lifted his head to see the aesthetic scenery that surrounded Hogwarts. The castle was impressive on its own, but the grassy fields and winding rivers were a whole different beauty.

Buckbeak flew over the lake that was surrounded by mountains, and Harry smiled at the glistening blue waters. The water was so clear, he could see his reflection through it. He smiled and even let go of Buckbeak’s feathers to feel the breeze waft against his hair, his face, and his body. 

After a pleasant tour around the school, Harry was flown back towards Hagrid, and the crowd of students applauded for his safe arrival.

When Harry got off Buckbeak, he walked over to his friends, and exhaled in delight, “That wasn’t as scary as I thought it’d be.”

“You should’ve seen your face before it took off,” Ron said with a chuckle.

“Ron, you try sitting on that, and tell me what you’ll look like,” Hermione said with a small grin.

Draco cut in, “Have to agree with Granger on that one. You’d probably look worse than Harry did.”

Hermione glanced at the blonde, and dropped her chin shyly. Harry, once again, noticed her strangely bashful behaviour, and wondered why she was acting like this all of a sudden.    
  


“Yeah well, why don’t you go next, Ron,” Harry snarkily asked the redhead to which the latter immediately shook his head.

Hagrid asked another student to volunteer, and it really seemed like no one would go until Neville hesitantly raised his hand. Hagrid motioned him to come over, and he was told to do the exact same thing that Harry did - bow, touch, ride.

After the chubby boy had taken flight, Harry had wondered why Longbottom was taking so long - perhaps something unfortunate happened to him like always. 

“You think he’s alright?” Harry asked Draco.

“I think he’s fine.”

“But he’s been gone for awhile now, I’m worried,” Harry said looking into the air.

Draco looked down at the green, “What are you going to do? Grab a broom and rescue him? You don’t even know where he is.”

“Yeah, but I can still worry about my friend,” Harry was taken aback by the blonde’s harsh tone.

Draco sighed, “I’m sure he’s alright. Like Hermione said before -,” the girl looked up, “- Hagrid wouldn’t do anything that could hurt one of us.”

Hermione added, “And I doubt Buckbeak has thrown Neville off his back, so just wait.”

Draco nodded agreeably, and then looked away from the brunette. 

After several long minutes, the students saw a bird flying down from high in the sky. With Buckbeak bringing Neville on the most lengthy ride around Hogwarts, the class ended the moment he landed.

The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful. Divination seemed interesting at first, but to Harry, it just seemed like his professor was absolutely bonkers. Potions, as usual, was with Snape, and like always, he took points away from Harry for the most mild inconveniences. 

-

A couple of months passed with the same bland routine, and McGonagall finally announced the first Hogsmeade trip for November. Third years would experience these visits for the first time, but the Seventh years normally stayed back as they went so many times. 

Everyone was excited, except for Harry, as his uncle failed to sign his permission slip. He begged McGonagall to sign it for him, but she could not as she was not a parent nor a guardian to him. His friends frowned when they found out he couldn’t go, and said they’d bring something back for him if they had extra money. And with that, he watched his three friends walk out of the castle as he stayed inside the school doing almost nothing except wait for his friends to get back.

When night fell, he heard a horde of students enter the castle gates, and continued to lay on his bed, staring at the canopy. He hasn’t talked to anyone all day, and it got boring around hour three. He wanted to hear about all the shops that were there, the way it looked coated in snow, and how fun it must’ve been.

Draco walked into the room, and grinned when he saw Harry making little shapes with his lips. He cleared his throat to make himself known, and the brunette immediately sat up.

“How was it?” Harry asked with anticipating eyes - maybe he thought he could absorb Draco’s experiences and pretend they were his own.

Draco dropped his bag of goodies on his bedside table, “It was great. Better than expected, at least.”

“Where’d you guys go?”

Draco sat down exhausted, “Originally it was all three of us, and we went to Zonko’s Joke Shop. Ron wasted his money on Nose-Biting Teacups, probably to prank your Divination professor or something.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, probably.”

“And then Hermione asked me to go with her to Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop.”

“I’m sure Ron had a  _ blast _ in there,” Harry added with a grin.

Draco shook his head, “It was just us two.”

Harry scrunched his eyebrows, “Ron didn’t go?” 

The blonde shrugged, “Guess she just wanted it to be us, I don’t know. But I did end up buying extra parchment and a silver ink set.”

“Hm.” Harry thought it was a bit odd for her to invite only Draco and not Ron, but maybe it’s because Ron was never into things like paper and quills. “Did you guys go anywhere else?”

“Oh, yeah, we went to Honeydukes, and,” Draco pulled something out from his bag, “I got you some fudge since you can’t go this year.”

Harry reached for the bag, and smiled, “Thanks, Draco. How much was it?”

“Don’t worry about it, just eat it,” Draco said with a wave of his hand. He grabbed his own bag of fudge and opened it. After he popped a few into his mouth, he grabbed his towel to take a shower.

When Draco left the room, Harry looked at the little chocolates, and smiled to himself. He felt his heart beat a bit faster, but why? It’s literally a bag of sweets that a friend bought for him. A friend, right?

He took a deep breath, and placed the chocolate on his side table before walking over to the window next to his bed and reaching for his cheeks. They felt so warm under his fingers, and in his reflection, he saw slightly red cheeks. His eyes widened, Draco didn’t notice them right? Probably not. 

Harry ran his fingers through his black curls, and internally shouted at himself,  _ They’re only red because you kept thinking about Draco giving you the sweets. You’re embarrassed for thinking more than just being friends. Yes, that’s why your cheeks are red. _

A few minutes of anxiousness passed before Draco came back into the room, and saw the brunette staring into a vast lake, “Harry? You alright?”

Harry turned startledly towards the blonde, and nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He cleared his throat, “Weren’t you taking a shower?”

“Ah, I was about to, but I forgot my toothbrush,” he answered, holding the item up.

“Oh,” Harry said a bit awkwardly, his eyes flitting everywhere but on Draco.

Draco creased his eyes, “Um, I’ll just go then.”

Harry nodded again, “Yes, alright.” 

When Draco left the room, Harry slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand.  _ Stupid. Why’d you turn into an inarticulate nitwit? _ He took another deep breath and laid down on his bed. He stared at the velvety green canopy once again, and wondered how everything could feel so different in a matter of minutes.

-

.

The next morning, Harry woke up before Draco. Turns out he couldn’t really sleep without thinking about his silly beating heart for the kind gesture, and now his eyes were supported by great big black bags. He looked over to the sleeping blonde, shook his head, and threw the covers off his body. Then he took a cold shower in order to wake up.

When he came back into the room to get dressed, he noticed Draco, but didn’t say anything.

Draco widened his eyes, “You’re up awfully early.”

Harry barely looked at him for a second, and then went back to his white dress shirt, “I couldn’t sleep last night.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure,” Harry lied, and began to poorly wrap the tie around his neck.

Draco slanted his lips, and then asked, “You’re still up for breakfast though?”

Harry turned at the blonde, “Only if you get ready within the next ten minutes.”

“Please, I can get ready in five, and still look better than you,” Draco remarked with a playful smirk.

Harry scoffed, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Draco watched the brunette practically run out the room. He could tell something was off, but he could also tell Harry didn’t want to talk about it, so he just brushed it off and decided to act normally. About five minutes later, he made his way downstairs, fully dressed with his book bag in hand.

Harry eyed the properly dressed blonde, “Hm, you do get ready quick.”

Draco smugly smiled, “I know, and I look good, don’t I?”

Harry stayed silent, and just stared into the silver eyes.  _ He does look...nice. _ Then, he turned, and walked out the dungeons. 

Draco was slightly taken aback - normally he’d just be like “Yeah,  _ of course, _ ” or “Literally no,” but instead he just walked away. He had to admit that it did bum him out a bit.

After they ate their breakfast, Draco tugged Harry’s robes, causing the brunette to flinch back a bit.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You’re acting a bit… odd,” Draco asked in concern.

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry if I’m acting weird. It’s just lack of sleep,” Harry randomly made up. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch up on sleep during Divination, and be fine by afternoon,” he added with a reassuring smile.

Draco narrowed his eyes, “You better. The atmosphere is feeling very boring without your usual self.”

Harry blinked,  _ was that a compliment? _ “Alright, alright. Let’s get to Potions now, yeah?” He walked towards the large dimly-lit room, and set his bag on the floor for another  _ wondrous _ class with Snape. 

He was never very good with Potions, and Draco knew that. But instead of just helping him, he would always tease him about his lack of knowledge. Harry would roll his eyes at such silly insults and then Draco would help him with whatever he needed. It was the typical cycle during Potions, but more often than not, they would get called out for speaking during class.

Next period, Divination, went as slow as it could. Although Draco didn’t share this class with Harry, Hermione and Ron did. The brunette thought this would make things still entertaining, but staring into a ball of mist or some tea leaves really put him to sleep. 

Professor Trelawney came over to the trio, and asked Ron to read Harry’s tea leaves, and he failed to give a logical reading. When she held the cup to see what the redhead saw, she dropped the teacup in fear, and shakily mentioned The Grim.

Harry had no idea what that could mean for him even with the definition. Did it mean he would die? Or someone else would die? The symbol of the black dog made him think back to that night he left Privet Drive - could it have been  _ that _ dog? When he asked Hermione about it, she just seemed agitated because Divination was a very woolly subject, and what the professor said wasn’t always accurate.

That didn’t really reassure Harry as much as he had hoped, but he more or less didn’t give it much thought after class.

-

And finally, lunch came along, and the trio were walking to the Great Hall together until Hermione said something that made them stop in their paths.

“Guys,” she said casually, “I think I might like someone.”

Ron immediately sped in front of her, “What?  _ You? _ I’ve never even seen you find someone attractive, let alone like someone.”

Hermione stared at the redhead in disbelief, “Oh come on, don’t exaggerate.”

“Who is it?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, it’s someone we all know,” she said.

“Hermione, we know  _ loads _ of people,” Ron drawled with a twisted expression.

She glared at the boy, and then added, “And it’s someone we hang out with often.”

For some reason, Harry felt like he knew where this was going, and he felt a bit worried. He playfully smiled, “Out with it, Hermione. Who’s the lucky guy?”

Hermione lowered her chin, and shyly answered, “It’s Draco…”

Ron raised his eyebrow, “Oddly enough, I’m shocked, but I’m not surprised.”

Hermione chuckled, “Those have practically the same meaning.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with him then,” Ron sarcastically remarked, “He seems like he’d be an incredible boyfriend.”

Harry laughed outwardly, but, wow, he felt a pit drop in his stomach. He should be happy that his friend likes someone, even if it’s Draco. Now that he thought about it, it explained why she was so shy around the blonde with her little smiles and chuckles, and why she asked to go to the parchment shop  _ alone _ .

Hermione punched his arm, “Shut up, Ron, I’m not going to ask him out. I’m not even positive I actually like him yet.”

Harry felt somewhat relieved hearing that. He knew he should support her, and, of course, he will, but it’s hard to pretend that it didn’t feel a bit bad. Should he ask to set things up or just play it like he didn’t know a bloody thing? 

In the end, he decided to do the latter - he didn’t want to do anything that could affect his two friends’ relationship, especially after it took so much work to make them speak nicely to each other.

The trio continued walking to the Great Hall - Ron actually ran there - and Harry separated from the two to sit with Draco at Slytherin. 

“Hey, Draco,” Harry said as he sat in front of the blonde.

Draco looked up, “Hello.”

“Sorry I was late. I was, um, doing something,” Harry said, pulling out his Potions book.

“You don’t have to apologize, but what were you doing?”

_ Well, I didn't think about that, _ Harry thought to himself. “Hermione was helping Ron and I on,” his eyes fell to his notebook, “Potions.”

Draco half-smiled in disbelief, “Potions. Interesting. You know I’m  _ highly _ more qualified than she is in that subject.”

Harry rolled his eyes at the cocky attitude, “Yeah well, she doesn’t sound like an arse teaching it.”

“Hm, I think I’m actually quite patient.”

Harry nodded in a sarcastic way, “Sure, yeah, of course.”

Draco scoffed under his breath, and he was glad the brunette was back to his usual self.

The table was silent with the occasional munch on carrots. Harry began to write the ingredients down for a Wideye Potion - snake fangs, billywig stings, wolfsbane. There was one more, but he’d forgotten. 

His eyes shot towards the blonde who was also scribbling something onto a piece of parchment, and then he cleared his throat, “So, Draco.”

“Hm?” he responded, not even lifting his head from his work.

Harry slowly asked, “How do you feel about Hermione?” That was not the question he meant to ask.

Draco looked up, and with a raised eyebrow, “She’s my friend. Why?”

Harry shrugged, “I’m just curious. I’ve never really seen you talk to any other girl but her.”

“And that’s odd because…?”

“It’s not odd,” Harry quickly said with a shake of his head. “I guess I’m just wondering why you never showed interest in any of the girls in our school.”

Draco pressed his lips together, and swallowed, “I just never thought I’d fancy anyone at this time.”

“Hm, that’s smart then. You have to focus on your studies anyway, right?” Harry added with a smile.

Draco nodded,“So," he hesitated, "Are you interested in anyone?”

Harry’s smile slowly faded, but he kept his amiable expression. _ Was I interested in anyone? Maybe a bit. _ He scratched the back of his head, “I barely have enough time to finish all these assignments - I don’t think pining over someone would help all that much.”

“I see,” Draco deadpanned.

Harry’s eyes awkwardly met silver, and he said, "I actually have another question." 

Draco signaled for him to continue.

"What's the last ingredient in the Wideye Potion?" Harry asked.

Draco leaned over to see what Harry wrote down, and then stared at the boy like he had three heads, “You managed to get those three down, yet you can’t remember the simplest one?”

“Let’s skip the whole spiel, yeah? What’s the last one?” Harry answered with an unamused face.

“It’s just standard ingredients, like an herb or a mixture of them.”

Harry wrote ‘standard ingredient’ onto the paper, “Thank you.”

The bell struck 12:50pm, and lunch was over. Harry and Draco packed their belongings, and walked over to Ron and Hermione so they could walk to Transfiguration together. 

-

Harry grew used to the blonde’s  _ very _ slow method of putting things away neatly. So, after class ended, Harry waited for Draco to finish packing up, like always, and was ready to head back to their dorm.

“Ah, sorry Harry. I have to go to the library right now.”

Harry tilted his head, “What for?”

Draco shrugged, “Hermione asked me to.”

Harry winced at the statement, “Oh, but why?”

“She said she wanted to get ahead of the course or something, and wanted me to assist her since she knew you and Ron wouldn’t,” Draco said, pulling the straps over his shoulder.

“Alright, I guess I’ll see you later then,” Harry said with a half smile.

“Yeah, I’ll see you,” Draco answered, and began walking towards the moving staircases.

When Harry saw the blonde turn into a corridor, he walked back to his room. He felt a wave of jealousy wash over him, and he sat at his desk solemnly. It’s not like the two of them never studied alone together, but this time, it just felt so different. 

This is what he wanted. He wanted them to be friends. But god, he hated it so much. He didn’t expect Hermione to like him. He never cared enough for who liked the blonde or who the blonde liked back. And now it felt like he had to do everything in his power to keep them apart. But he couldn’t do that - not to his friends. And no matter how much it hurt him to see the boy he liked or  _ maybe _ liked, hang out with his best friend, it wasn’t worth ruining friendships over.

He secretly hoped Draco wouldn’t like her back, _ But then what would that mean for me? Absolutely nothing. He likes girls, and last time you checked, Harry, you’re not a girl. But Hermione is, and if Draco likes her, you have to support whatever comes their way. _

That last thought hurt the most, but he knew that it was best to just let his best friends do whatever made them happy.


End file.
